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CIC notice to RBI for dishonouring Supreme Court order to disclose wilful defaulters’ list

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6 years ago

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The CIC recalled that RBI had earlier disclosed, in response to an RTI application, that bad debt stood at Rs 15,551 crore for the financial year ending March 2012 and that it had shot up by over three times to Rs 52,542 crore by the end of March 201.

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has issued a show-cause notice to RBI Governor Urjit Patel for “dishonouring” a Supreme Court judgment on disclosure of wilful defaulters’ list and told the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to make public the letter of former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan on bad loans.

Irked over the denial of information on the disclosure of the names of wilful defaulters who have taken bank loans of Rs 50 crore and above by the RBI in spite of a Supreme Court order, the CIC has asked Patel to explain why a maximum penalty be not imposed on him for “dishonouring” the verdict which had upheld a decision taken by then Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi, calling for disclosure of names of wilful defaulters.

Central Information Commissioner M Sridhar Acharyulu, according to ANI, said, “We got RTI for disclosing list of names of wilful defaulters who defaulted on loans beyond Rs 50Cr. A similar RTI was filed earlier in which the earlier Information Commissioner had given an order that names of defaulters can be disclosed along with action taken.”

“In the RTI, RBI bank inspection reports were demanded, RBI resisted & took the matter to the CIC, CIC ordered that info should be given & around a dozen appeals were transferred to SC. SC said that the info has to be disclosed. RBI has the duty to implement the SC orders.”

A PTI report said the CIC pointed out that Patel, speaking on September 20 at the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), had said the guidelines on vigilance, issued by the CVC, were aimed at achieving greater transparency, promoting a culture of honesty and probity in public life and improving the overall vigilance administration in the organisations within its purview.

“The Commission feels that there is no match between what RBI Governor and Deputy Governor say and their website regarding their RTI policy, and great secrecy of vigilance reports and inspection reports is being maintained with impunity in spite of the Supreme Court confirming the orders of the CIC in the Jayantilal case”, Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said.

He concluded that it did not serve any purpose in punishing the CPIO for this defiance, because he acted under the instructions of the top authorities.

“The Commission considers the Governor as deemed PIO responsible for non-disclosure and defiance of SC orders and CIC orders and directs him to show cause why maximum penalty should not be imposed on him for these reasons, before November 16, 2018,” Acharyulu said.

He rejected the arguments of Santosh Kumar Panigrahy of the RBI that section 22 of the Right to Information (RTI) Act would not override various laws he quoted, prohibiting disclosure of names and details of wilful defaulters and hence, the RBI should be discharged from the obligations of disclosure.

“His contention that unless the above referred enactments are repealed, the RBI cannot disclose the details of defaulters is also absurd,” Acharyulu said.

He added that another contention of Panigrahy that the pendency of a PIL before the Supreme Court on the issue would prevent him from disclosure was also baseless as he did not present any interim order passed by the Supreme Court preventing the disclosure of names of wilful defaulters or against the proceedings before the CIC.

“These submissions of the RBI show that its legal wing did not bring to the notice of the CPIO that in the RBI vs Jayantilal N Mistry case, a Supreme Court bench consisting of M Y Eqbat and C Nagappan JJ, on December 16, 2015 [Transferred Cases (Civil) Nos. 91 to 101 of 2015], gave a landmark decision, upholding the direction of the CIC to disclose the inspection reports of the RBI and the names of wilful defaulters in many cases, rejecting all the above referred contentions of the RBI,” Acharyulu said.

The information commissioner said in that case, the counsel for the RBI had raised the same contentions, referring to the same cases referred by Panigrahy, and those were straightaway rejected by the Supreme Court.

“The commission finds no merit in hiding the names of, details and action against wilful defaulters of big bad loans worth hundreds of crores of rupees.

“The RBI shall disclose the bad debt details of defaulters worth more than Rs 1,000 crore at the beginning, of Rs 500 crore or less at a later stage within five days and collect such information from the banks in due course to update their voluntary disclosures from time to time as a practice under section 4(1)(b) of the RTI Act,” he said.

In his order, Acharyulu also recalled how the RBI had “lost all their cases and contentions” when they had moved the Supreme Court against the directions of former CIC Shailesh Gandhi. Calling upon administrative officers of CIC to pursue these contempt of court cases against top management of RBI, he asked: “If the banking regulatory like RBI will not honour the constitutional directions, what will be the effect of constitution on securing rule of law?”

Acharyulu also made a fervent appeal to the RBI governor – to remember the farmers who die as they fail to repay their debt – “before defying the transparency law and directions”. He also asked Patel to immediately discontinue the non-disclosure policy saying it would seriously harm the economy of the nation. As per the National Crime Records Bureau, in 2015 along over 3,000 farmers had committed suicide across the country as they were unable to repay their loans.

In his order, Acharyulu also recalled that RBI had earlier disclosed, in response to an RTI application, that bad debt stood at Rs 15,551 crore for the financial year ending March 2012 and that it had shot up by over three times to Rs 52,542 crore by the end of March 2015.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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PM Modi launches projects worth Rs 660 crore in Jharkhand

“The depot will help start several new trains and services,” Modi said.

Published

12 mins ago

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September 15, 2024

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday virtually launched various projects worth Rs 660 crore from Ranchi in Jharkhand.

These include laying the foundation stone for the Madhupur bypass line in Deoghar district and the Hazaribag town coaching depot. “The depot will help start several new trains and services,” Modi said.

He also dedicated to the nation doubling of the Kurkura-Kanaroan line, which is a part of the Bondamunda-Ranchi single-line section and the Rourkela-Gomoh route via Ranchi, Muri and Chandrapura stations.

The project will help in increased mobility of goods and passenger traffic. Besides, the PM also launched four road-under-bridges (RUBs).

“The work of laying railway lines, doubling of these and developing modern facilities at railway stations are underway at a fast pace in Jharkhand,” Modi said.

The Prime Minister also virtually distributed sanction letters to 32,000 beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) and released first instalment of  Rs 32 crore for the construction of houses.

PM Moid also virtually handed over keys to 46,000 beneficiaries of PMAY-G across the country. The Centre has approved 1,13,400 houses for the poor in Jharkhand under the PMAY-G scheme, PTI reported.

Addressing a gathering virtually, Modi congratulated the people of Jharkhand for these projects.

PM Modi said: “There was a time when modern development was limited to certain cities of the country. States like Jharkhand lagged in terms of modern development. But the approach of ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas’ has changed the mentality of the country. Now the poor, Adivasi and Dalits are the priority of our nation. Women, farmers and youth are a priority”

He said that the whole region will develop with the expansion of rail services in Eastern India.

“The budget for railway development for Jharkhand is Rs. 7000 crores. If we compare this to the budget 10 years ago, it is 16 times more,” PM Modi said.

The Prime Minister is on a three-day visit to Jharkhand, Gujarat and Odisha beginning Sunday during which he is scheduled to lay the foundation stones and launch projects worth more than Rs 12,460 crore.

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Arvind Kejriwal says he will resign as Delhi CM in 2 days

“If you think I am honest, vote for me in large numbers. I will sit on the CM’s chair only after being elected,” he said. The elections are supposed to be held in February, he added.

Published

49 mins ago

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September 15, 2024

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In a shocking announcement, Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday that he will step down as Delhi Chief Minister in the next two or three days, days after walking out of Tihar Jail in an alleged money laundering case linked to the liquor policy scam.

“I am going to resign from the CM position after two days,” the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor said while addressing the party workers in Delhi.  

Kejriwal added that he will not sit on the CM chair until the people give their verdict, and he will go to every house and street and not sit on the CM chair till he gets a verdict from the people. The Assembly election to Delhi is due early next year.

Attacking the BJP government, Kejriwal said, “They sent me to jail because their goal was to break the AAP and the courage of Kejriwal. They thought they would break our party and form a government in Delhi after jailing me. But our party did not break.”

“I did not resign from the jail because I wanted to protect the Constitution of India. I wanted to fail their formula. The Supreme Court asked the central government why a government cannot run from jail. The SC proved that a government can run from jail,” he added.

While addressing the gathering, Kejriwal appealed to the people of Delhi to cast their vote in his favour if they feel that Kejriwal is an honest leader in the coming Assembly elections.

“If you think I am honest, vote for me in large numbers. I will sit on the CM’s chair only after being elected,” he said. The elections are supposed to be held in February, he added.

Kejriwal demanded elections be held in November with Maharashtra elections. Till elections are held, someone else from the party will be the Chief Minister, the AAP chief said.

In the next 2-3 days, a meeting of the MLAs will be held, where the next CM will be decided, Kejriwal asserted.

Senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia, addressing the workers and MLAs at the party office in Delhi before Kejriwal’s resignation announcement, said the BJP drafted a fantasy story named the ‘Liquor Scam’. The Supreme Court gave bail to Arvind Kejriwal and ended that story, he added.

“It is a happy ending for us and a sad ending for the BJP. They thought they would keep Arvind Kejriwal jailed till the Delhi elections but their stories were proven to be wrong in the court, and today Arvind Kejriwal and I are out of jail,” Sisodia said.

AAP MP Raghav Chadha said Kejriwal had asked for votes in the name of work in 2020 and said that if “I have worked then vote for me, if I have not worked then do not vote for me.”

The people of Delhi will declare the Chief Minister honest by voting for AAP and in the upcoming 2025 Delhi elections, the people of Delhi will declare their Chief Minister honest through that election, Chadha added.

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Meerut Building Collapse: Toll rises to 10, rescue ops underway

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), fire brigade, and police teams are all involved in the rescue operation.

Published

1 hour ago

on

September 15, 2024

By

The death toll in the collapse of a three-storey house in Zakir Nagar here has risen to 10 while the rescue work at the site is still underway, the district administration said on Sunday.

The administration stated that one person is feared to be still trapped under the debris.

Those who have been identified as deceased include: Sajid (40), Saniya (15), Saqib (11), Simra (one-and-half years), Reeza (7), Naffo (63), Farhana (20), Alisa (18), Aliya (6), and Rimsa (5 months). The administration stated that Sofiyan (6) is in stable condition.

Among the injured, Naeem (22), Nadeem (26), Saqib (20), and Saina (38) are receiving treatment at the Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College.

The collapse of a three-storey house on Saturday afternoon trapped 15 people under the debris.

Meerut District Magistrate Deepak Meena told reporters, “When the rescue operation started, the relatives gave information about 15 persons. Three managed to escape when the building was collapsing.”

Meena added, “The death toll currently stands at 10, while five persons are alive. The rescue operations will continue until all the debris is removed.” He mentioned, “The bodies have been kept at the medical college for a post-mortem examination.”

Senior officials, including Meerut Zone Additional Director General of Police D K Thakur, Divisional Commissioner Selva Kumari J, Inspector General of Police Nachiketa Jha, and Senior Superintendent of Police Vipin Tada, arrived at the scene to monitor the rescue operation.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), fire brigade, and police teams are all involved in the rescue operation.

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